“ A c h i e v i n g I n b o x - Z e r o u s i n g G T D ”
Mukom Akong T. @perfexcellent
How to
Love Email Again
Spotting Email dysfunction
Root causes of EmailitisBette
r Email p
ractices
Inbo
x-Ze
ro th
roug
h G
TD
Agenda!
Tip
s fr
om
the
fro
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nes
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
You know these “-itises”
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Arthriti
sHepatiti
s
Gastritis
But … what about this?
e.mail.it.is |ee-mayl-eye-tis| (noun)
1. a productivity-draining inflammation of
electronic mail.
2. Overblowing the importance of email as
a productivity tool.
121Average number of emails received per person per day in 2014
(source: Radicati Group)
$1 billion/yrCost of lost productivity due to email overload for firms with 50,000+
employees
@perfexcellent
Symptoms2How to recognise the
of Emailitis
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
Symptom #1: Sustained high un-read mail count
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957
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
Symptom #2: The cocktail ‘Inbox’
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•Read and unread emails •Starred and un-starred emails •Labelled and un-labelled emails
… all deserve equal amounts of attention??!!
Symptom #3:
Email ‘organised’ in over 20 folders
Dividing an ‘incomplete pile of unclear stuff’ into several folders doesn’t help clarify them! - STOP
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
Symptom #4: Your response to a computer crash
12
$#@& God No!!
my email!!!
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
Symptom #5: Email is the subject of conflict!
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@perfexcellent
Root Causes3Exposing the
of Emailitis
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
Emailitis results from email misuse
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Project Management
Email is a LOUSY tool for these!
Brainstorming Doc. Collaboration
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
Use these tools instead of email
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Project Management Brainstorming Doc. Collaboration
Trello
Jira
Asana Mediawiki
Post-It
Freemind
Mediawiki
Google Drive
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
The’re often better ways than email!
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TASK SOME MORE EFFECTIVE TOOLS
Project Management
Collaborative Project Management System e.g.
• Jira
• Trello
• Asana
Brainstorming
• Meet for 1 hour & use Post-It notes
• Mindmap apps e.g Freemind, Wisemapping
• Wiki e.g. confluence, mediawiki
Document collaboration
• Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides)
• Use “Track Changes” feature of Office apps
• Etherpad
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
The’re often better ways than email!
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@perfexcellent
Practices3Better
for dealing with email
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
Only 5 things matter about email
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Unread
Read (Action needed from someone)
Read (Action needed)
Sent by you (Response Expected)
Read (Reference Info)
Inbox
Action
WaitingReference
Everything Else
You NEED only 5 + 1 ‘folders’
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
Meet your new ‘Inbox’
•ESSENTIAL & UNREAD mails
•Auto-filter out non-essentials: ①Mailing lists ②Social media notifications ③Newsletters ④Promotions etc
•Empty every day (Inbox Zero)
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Inbox
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
‘Action’ folder
•Mails that need 2+ minutes
•What to do with it? ①Reply (long responses) ②Process into tasks (ToDo list)
•Remove treated mails
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Action
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
‘Waiting’ folder
•Mails you sent (or forwarded)
•Usually means ‘delegated’
•You expect a response/update
•Send reminder(s)
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Waiting
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
‘Reference’ folder
•Mails you’ve already read
•Contain important information to be referenced in the future
•What to do with it? ①Print and file (old school :-() ②Forward to Evernote
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Reference
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
‘Everything Else’ folder
Non-essential unread mail • Mailing lists • Social media updates • Promotions etc
What to do with it?
•Scan twice/thrice a week
•Move interesting to Action/Reference as needed
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Waiting
@perfexcellent
Inbox-Zero4Getting to
GTD-style
Recall: GTD Workflow
(c) David Allen
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
Inbox-Zero workflow
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Auto SORT
Process Organize DO
Filters Rules
What ACTION does this mail require?
Tracking Referencing
Long replies Tasks
ActionReference
Action? By Me?<= 2 mins
?
Respond NOW
Inbox
Archives
Mailing Lists
New mail
Referential?
Waiting
YESNO
NO
YES
YES
NO
NO
YES
Auto-Filters
Processing EmailMukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
Processing Email: The 2 Minute Rule
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2 minutes
Move to “Action” folderRespond now
Remove from Inbox
Mukom Akong T. | @Perfexcellent |
Inbox Zero implementation in Gmail
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@perfexcellent
Tips & Tricks5Some
from the field
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
Some of my email tactics
① Disable notifications!
② NEVER start your day with email
③ Break #2 if email is your big rock for that day
④ Do email 2 or 3 times per day
⑤ Close email client at other times
⑥ Keep work and personal email separate
⑦ Delete mail that’s not reference or actionable
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Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
Settings for Gmail
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• Use labels to categorise • Use filters to skip inbox • “Unread” is my Inbox (only non-junk)
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
Settings for Apple Mail
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• Rename flags to desired statuses • Use Use filters to skip inbox • “GTD-Inbox” is my Inbox (only non-junk) • Use Smart Mailboxes to hold tagged messages • Drag Smart Mailboxes to create toolbar • Hide Mailboxes sidebar for clean look
Mukom Akong T. | @perfexcellent |
Settings for Thunderbird
① Create tags |-Action-| , |-Waiting-| etc
② Use QuickFolders add-on to create tabs of
the for each of the above tabs
③ Used “Saved Search” to configure my
buckets “Inbox”, “Action” , “Reference”,
“Monitor”
④ Switch to a view that Hides Folder
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Work; email is NOT. Tool; it is. Wisely; use it thou shall!
Else to the Dark side; take you; email will.
